Abraham Lincoln: Likeness in Symphony [Import]

Although Robert Russell Bennett (1894-1981) is best remembered as Broadway's leading orchestrator of the 1920s, he was also the author of over 200 concert works. This disc presents two original Bennett works submitted by the composer for a $25,000 competition sponsored by RCA Victor in 1928. The composer, once referred to by Nadia Boulanger as a "true artist", won the competition; listening to these works, it is easy to understand why the members of the jury (which included Leopold Stokowski and Serge Koussevitzky) were so impressed. Bennett's illustrative skills are in top form in the opening Abraham Lincoln: A Likeness in Symphony Form. Patriotic but devoid of rhetoric, Bennett's five-movement suite presents a comfortably tonal, balanced account of Lincoln's personality ("His Simplicity and his Sadness," "His Humour and his Weakness"). The composer also draws orchestral portraits of several key life-events, including Lincoln's first love affair ("Andantino") and his fatal assassination ("Moderato maestoso"). Mahlerian in scope, the kinetic Sights and Sounds is, in the words of the composer, an "abstract painting" that describes various aspects of contemporary, urban American living. Highlights include the hustling, vigoroso trumpet recitative in "Union Station" and the moto perpetuo rhythms of the concluding "Speed." Conductor William T. Stromberg--best known for his reconstructions of classic American film scores--handles all of this material with flair and aplomb. Indeed, Bennett's descriptive, colourful music was ideal for film, though the composer wrote only a handful of original scores for RKO Radio in the late 1930s (including the Oscar-nominated Pacific Liner). Hopefully the production team responsible for this handsome Naxos recording will revive these scores in a future project. --Kevin Mulhall